Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Shalini Boland

HOW DID YOU GET YOUR START AS AN AUTHOR?

I used to be a singer/songwriter, but after having kids I found writing novels fit in better with my lifestyle – I still get to be creative, but I don’t have to travel so much or spend hours prettying myself up.

DID YOU CHOOSE TO SELF-PUBLISH OR GO THE TRADITIONAL ROUTE? WHY?

I initially had a London literary agent who submitted to publishers for me, but it was such a glacial process that I eventually decided to self-publish. Plus I’m a bit of a control freak, and it suits me to work to my own timeframes.

DO YOU PREFER EBOOKS, PAPERBACKS OR HARDCOVER?

My heart says paperbacks, but nine times out of ten I find myself reaching for my Kindle.

WHAT IS THE FIRST SCIENCE FICTION BOOK YOU REMEMBER READING?

1984. I read it in my early teens and it freaked me out.

WHEN YOU GO TO SEE A MOVIE, DO YOU TRY TO READ THE BOOK FIRST?

Always

DO YOU BUY A BOOK BY THE COVER?

I’d have to read the blurb before I bought it. But covers certainly have to attract me. I would never buy a print book if it had a dodgy cover.

WHERE WERE YOU BORN AND WHERE DO YOU CALL HOME? WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE?

Born in London. Home is Dorset (in the UK) and I absolutely love it. We have pretty towns, beautiful beaches, forest and countryside here. The only thing I would change is the weather. If we could drag the county 300 miles south, it’d be perfect.

DO YOU EVER WRITE IN YOUR PJ’S?

The question should be: Do you ever not write in your PJs?

DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER JOB BESIDES AUTHOR?

I’m a mother of two young boys and I also just started up a book promotion company.

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?

Opportunity is a duty

WHAT ARE YOUR PET PEEVES?

Rudeness.

SLEEP IN OR GET UP EARLY?

In an ideal world I’d sleep in.

YOUR FAVORITE GADGET?

My Nespresso coffee machine.

HAVE YOU SEEN MY SHOES?

Have you looked in the shoe cupboard?

BONUS QUESTION: WHY DO VILLAINS PREFER LONG HAIR CATS INSTEAD OF HAIRLESS CATS? HAIRLESS CATS ARE MUCH MORE EVIL LOOKING. SEEMS LIKE A MISSED OPPORTUNITY.

HOW IMPORTANT ARE NAMES TO YOU IN THIS BOOK? DID YOU CHOOSE THEM BASED ON SOUND OR MEANING?

It’s a gut instinct thing. If the name’s wrong, I can’t make the character come alive. As soon as I find the right name, they become real.

WHERE DID YOUR TOMORROW SPRING FROM? IN OTHER WORDS, HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE CRAZY WORLD?

I pictured how the world I live in now would be after a total social and economic collapse. How would people live? What would we do? How would we protect ourselves from the chaos? I figured that most people would want to try and barricade themselves in. They would want to keep their houses and manicured lawns and semblance of normalcy.

HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE IDEA FOR THIS STORY?

I had a wicked twist of an ending and worked backwards.

JUST HOW FAR IN THE FUTURE IS YOUR TOMORROW?

16 years.

IS THERE ANY SUPER-COOL FUTURISTIC TECHNOLOGY/WEAPONRY IN YOUR TOMORROW?

Not too much, apart from some cool armoured vehicles with vicious shock plates. It’s mainly people trying to keep hold of the stuff from ‘before’.

DO YOU WANT YOUR TOMORROW TO MAKE IT BIG, AS IN JK ROWLINGS-BIG? WHY OR WHY NOT?

I’d like it to be I-stay-anonymous big.

YOUR MAIN CHARACTER VS BATMAN, WHO WOULD WIN?

Depends on when … By the end of the trilogy, Riley would kick Batman’s ass.

MULTIPLE CHOICE

IF THERE IS TEOTWAWKI IN YOUR TOMORROW, WHAT CAUSED IT

Multiple terrorist attacks destabilised the economy.

ON A SCALE OF 1-5 WHAT WOULD YOUR BOOK GET FOR THESE ACTUAL MPAA RATING DESCRIPTIONS (I’m guessing 1 is not a lot, 5 is an awful lot)